Teachers observe 'black day'

RAJIV KONWAR

Activists of Asom Sikshak Karmachari Aikya Mancha protest at Dispur Last Gate in Guwahati on Monday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, March 6: Teachers serving in educational institutions that have been kept outside the ambit of Dispur's provincialisation move today observed a "black day" and demanded that the government take over their institutions.

Dispur has decided to provincialise (take over) only those venture educational institutions which had been set up before January 1, 2006. Today, the government submitted two bills in the Assembly in this regard.

The teachers wore black badges and demonstrated at Last Gate in Dispur.

The government has received demands to provincialise 7,978 schools and colleges, including 3,138 primary schools, 2,889 upper primary schools and 581 high schools /higher secondary schools /junior colleges, having posts of 45,809 teachers.

A white paper recently submitted by the government in the Assembly says an estimated expenditure of Rs 1,849 crore per annum would be required for these posts to be provincialised.

"We appeal to the education minister to consider our demands from a humanitarian point of view and provincialise all these educational institutions," said Manohar Hussain, chief secretary of the All Assam Recognised ME Teachers' Association.

The association demanded that since most of the educational institutions were set up before implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009 they should be spared from the criteria laid out by the act.

Sources in the education department said the government is aware of the problem of the teachers but it is bound to implement the provisions of the Right to Education Act.

The PCC had recently opposed the state government's decision, saying that as the number of students is increasing the government cannot stop provincialisation of educational institutions after a certain period.